The Last Phantom Thief
by spiffydescalchop
Summary: After the demise of our favourite gentleman thief. He finds himself in a new world with more corruption than before. Once he settles in, he will start where he left off, only this time he lacks backup. Will he successfully rebel against the coming evil or will he fall.
1. Chapter 1: Back from the shadows

It was a strange for me to wake up with a fuzzy memory of what happened prior to my sleep. I looked around to see that I was in a room that looked as if there was a blue paint incident, this room, was the velvet room. Thinking back, the last time I was here was when Lavenza and Igor gave my the world arcana, giving me full control of my life. I lived a normal life from then on, moved out, had my own home, things were great…*.ie..o..ba...rd.*

Suddenly my head began to throb and ringing followed after. I remember what happened before I woke here.

Flashback:

I was walking to my house one day, the political meeting I attended went well I think. As I kept walking down the street I saw a light in the corner of my eye but kept walking until I reached my front porch. While I was unlocking the door I saw the glint of light on handle getting bigger and bigger, when I turned around I say a car driving full speed towards me. Thinking it was an idiot driver making a sharp turn I stood my ground but as it turns out, it was a mistake.

It felt like my world turned upside down. I was hit by the car at full speed, going straight through the door and landing on the glass table I had just bought, breaking the glass and getting impaled by the metal pole in the centre. My vision blurred and I coughed up blood, everything hurt and I swore I broke my ribs. Just when I thought it was over the driver came out and repeatedly hit my in the face with a metal pole, that's when everything went dark.

End flashback

"So that's what happened" it was so sudden that I couldn't remember right away but now it makes sense. But to think, that when I die I would return to the velvet room. Looking around I found that the place looked different, it still kinda looked the same as before but uncared for. There were rips in the wall padding, the toilet was falling apart and the desk that was usually in the middle of the room was now toppled over and had moss on it. To top it all off, Igor and Lavenza were nowhere to be found, only the glow of an early morning was shining through the cracks in the ceiling. I got up and looked around, all the jail doors I could see were rusted and falling apart including my own. Walking out of my cell I was met with the blinding light, I had to cover my eyes with my sleeve till my eyes adjusted. However when I saw my sleeve I found I was not in my usual black and white prison attire, instead I was in my school clothes from five years ago when I went to shujin. "I haven't seen these in a while." But now that I thought about it, it seemed a bit odd I could still fit in them.

Now that I had adjusted to the light I wandered around to find that the velvet room now looked like one of those mossy buildings in apocalypse movies. I kept walking until I found a door that, unlike all the other doors, looked new and slightly showed the outside world. As I walked towards it I found a reception desk with a note and two items.

{Dear Kurusu Akira. I wish to give you a brief description of what is to come. I have sensed that enemy's lurk outside of this place and that you must be prepared, I have supplied you with your weapons from your previous life as well as all your medications and accessories, they will be located under the table. I have also found that this world is far more advanced, as well as breaking apart, something known as aura keeps certain individuals safe and even gives them powers very much like a persona's, so to make you seem less suspicious I have given you an ability similar to that of when you snuck around in palaces.}

'Huh what in the world, powers, defences similar to that of a persona user. If I did not live my life like I did I would not have believed this. The note said they gave me one too right? Well let's see, if I would use it like how I used to sneak then…' I looked around while I tried to remember the good days of thievery.

I walked around the counter and crouched behind it but instead of feeling the hard counter at my side. I felt a small breeze followed by the feeling of smooth concrete. I had fallen through with an, I admit, unstylish grace. When I opened my eyes I saw that I seemed to be in a compartment of sorts, like a secret passage you see in detective shows. I got up and tried dusting myself off but hit my head in the process. It looked like I was underwater but the water was in front of my face. Through some experimentation I found that the ability given to me was the ability to crawl into shadows. I could move around on surfaces that were connected by them and come out of any space that was concealed by the darkness, I also found out that clear ice appears in any place with light on its surface. After I got out of the shadows I decided to read more of the note.

I also have a set of armour and a bag that you can store things in, it may look small but it can hold a lot more than you would think. Just don't think that the bag can carry things infinitely. 'Fair enough' I thought. 'What about stealing people's hearts? How would I get to a palace? That is, if there are palaces'.

{That is all I can give you right as this moment for my power, like yours is has been weakened. When you go outside take the key that is in the doors keyhole. When you put the key into any kind of keyhole, you will be able to access the velvet room once more. From your very soul, Arsene.}

'Arsene! Isn't he just a persona? How could he leave me a note and items? You know what that's fine as long as it helps.' I pick up the two weapons provided to me, the gun to my left was a real honest to god gun which was a bit surprising, what was really surprising was the fact the safety was off and I fired it close to my head. The weapon on the right was was a black cane with red going halfway down to the tip of the cane. 'This was what my melee weapon was supposed to be?' I used my third eye to check both of their potential and I was met with another surprise.

[gentleman's duel pistol, atk 300, acc 90, clip 12]

[the phantoms cane, atk 250, acc 100, random ailment (med)]

[true thieves undercoat, def 150, eva 50]

I put them in my bag and went outside, only covering my eyes for a second time. Once I had adapted again and taken the key out of the door that looked like the entrance to a bomb shelter, I looked over the landscape. Snow covered the land like a blanket and the smell of pine filled my nose as I walked, it was then I realized there was an ominous presence around. Using my third eye I saw what looked like a shadow with white plates and spikes in the shape of a wolf in the distance.

The wolf caught sight of me and started moving towards me at full speed. I started to run and hid behind a tree so I could take out my weapons. "gah!" I was hit from behind and sent flying. I looked over to see that the wolf clawed through the tree and hit me from behind sending me and my weapons sprawled across the ground. It howled and more howls joined it. "I have to get out of here before the company comes." I quickly dodged the claw of the wolf and did a combat roll to my weapon, picking it up in just enough time to block the next attack that then sent me into another tree. 'It's too fast!' It attacked again, instantly getting me within it's reach. It swung downwards as I sidestepped, only to be backhanded. It grabbed me and threw me to another tree, I was not going to win.

 **"What's the matter?"** 'What? Who said that?' **"Hast thou forgotten my voice? Are you just going to lay down and die?"** 'Of course not! But what can I do?' **"Can you not hear it call for you? It yearns for your return but you continue to let the chains that attach you to hell pull you down. Are you going to heed its words and fight or are going to give up?"** 'No… I must get up and fight. No I need to get up and fight!' **"Hmph, very well, the chains that hold you down, the chains that hold you to hell. Make it your weapon and give them what they deserve!"** "I understand." "I am thou and thou art I/ **I am thou and thou art I!"**

I swung my cane at the wolf knocking it back, the wind picked up and my heart gained a feeling that I dearly missed yet still knew very well. I reached up and grasped my mask as the blue flames surrounded me. "Come, Arsene!" The persona known as Arsene appeared in a beautiful array of light as he floated down and bowed. "Arsene." **"Yes Akira."** "pillage them!" **"Hehahaha, as you wish."** The wolf lunged at us. I felt so much lighter when dodging this time, I jumped over the wolf and landed next to my pistol, I am also stronger apparently. I stabbed the wolf with the end of my cane making it let out a roar. It backed up with a growl only to be kicked towards me by Arsene. As he flew towards me I changed my stance so the cane was under my left arm and my gun on my right shoulder, I started firing at the wolf as I readied my cane, as soon as it got close I struck it, the sound of sparks touched my ears as the wolf was inflicted with paralysis.

The wolf was on the ground, electricity coming off his fur and onto the snow, it tried to move but it was stuck in place. "Arsene use cleave." Arsene charged and did a spin kick, slashing the wolf with his bladed heel, cutting off its arm. The wolf began to get up again and started to howl. 'Shit, reinforcements, looks like I'm gonna hafta bring out the big guns' "Arsene, strike it down, Eiha!" **"Hahahaha!"** With the snap of my finger a red circle appeared below the beast making it cautiously look around and try to run. But because of it being paralyzed it could not move. Suddenly red beams of energy shot up and started striking it. When it stopped the wolf fell, it's armour riddled with holes. It let out a whimper before it slowly started to dissolve in a plume of black smoke. In the black smoke there was a white and grey card as well as what looked like a skill card.

The other cards, which I am guessing are the currency of this world, would come in handy, the other card had a picture of red lines going upwards, the symbol known as maeiha. **"Akira, the card you have obtained will give me back some of the power I had lost, give it to me so I can fight with more vigor."** "Arsene? I never knew you could talk to me in my head." **"It is a skill I learned while thou was dormant."** "You even wrote me a note." **"In the velvet room I can move freely as if I was human, i just like to stay in your soul because it's comfy."** "I guess that's fair. Could you tell me how and what you found out about this world Arsene?" **"Sadly we have more pressing matters to attend too. The reinforcements are here."** As he said that a pack of dozens and dozens of wolves similar to the last one started crawling out of the surrounding forest, they had a little less armour only covering their snout and spine.

They were all watching me from afar before three lunged at me. I shot the two on the sides and fell into the middle ones shadow, then jumped out again to give the finishing blow to the skull, these ones were much weaker than the last. "Arsene!" Arsene materialised in time to block and attack from another and stabbed it with his horns. "Dream needle!" **"As you wish"** Arsene pointed his wings and shot multiple feathers that pierced through a row of five of them, only to find that ten took there place, this was getting nowhere. Stabbing another one with the end of my cane and shooting it off with my gun I came up with the perfect plan. "Arsene, Maeiha!" I threw the card at Arsene, it burst into flames and struck his back, changing his face from red to blue. Red circles covered the ground under every black wolf causing them to look around. "Begone." Thousands of dark red beams shot up and through the wolves turning them into clouds of smoke.

I let out a sigh as I knew it was over, the smoke cleared and in the middle where three white cards and a tin clasp. **"Three lien, simple pocket cash."** "Lien?" **"This world's currency, the coloured card shows how much it is worth, white is one."** "I see. How do you know this by the way?" **"You sadly won't be able to do it but because I am a mystical entity, I can access the velvet room's ability to see the world the Guest is in. Even though I can't see who people are I can see the news and educational aspects of a world."** "I see. Do you know where I can find a safe place to sleep?" **"Just go south."** "Thanks. And Arsene." **"Yes trickster."** "Do you think we went overboard?" He looked at his surroundings, many trees where in places they should not be and half the ground had been dug up from the compact attack. **"No, I don't think so, let's keep moving."**

(Five minutes earlier. Altus main headquarters.)

A woman in a white outfit and a rapier at her side was moving quickly down a hallway, heels clicking on the floor with each step. She put an ID card up to a scanner and walked into an elevator. When she reached the top, she walked up to a man in the desk. "General ironwood sir! There appears to be a large spike of an unknown energy fifty klicks north from here." The man who was also in a white military outfit turned his chair 180 degrees to face her. "I know ." She bowed. "I Apologize sir, I had not known you were already informed." He turned back to his desk. "It's quite alright Winter, but I was not told anything, I saw it." He pressed the button on his desk and the plates covering the window opened to reveal the snowy landscape. Winter Schnee covered her mouth in shock as she looked to the horizon. What she was looking at was a dark red laser show in the distance that covered a part of the sky. "What is that sir?" He frowned grimly. "I do not know."

(Same time. Unknown place.)

"Hmm this feeling, it feels...new and empowering" an unknown woman in black with pale skin floated across the room as if she was pacing back and forth. "Cinder! Come to me!" Another girl in a red dress walked into the room "Yes malady?" The woman in black stared at her with an empty stare before speaking again. "Do you know what that energy was Cinder?" the girl in red shook her head. "No I do not. Was it a new kind of dust you want malady? Or maybe a new threat that you wish to deal with?" The pale woman stared back to the emptiness. "I do not know Cinder, that is why I called you." Cinder was surprised that she did not know, with how evil it felt and with her knowledge together surely she should have known, not her. Cinders train of thought was disrupted. "When you go to do your duty, I want you to get to the bottom of it." "Yes ma'am I'll do it whenever I have spare time" "no make it your second priority." "why is it so important?" She paused for a second then spoke once more. "It might be the key to our victory."

(Same time. Patch.)

"Hiiiya!" In the front yard of a house in patch, a girl in black and red wielding a scythe was Fighting with a man with blonde hair. "Ruby. You do know making sounds does not make you stronger right." The girl pouted. "Buuut daaad, all my comic book characters do that when they power up and stuff." A man in a grey shirt and red cape spoke up from. "Listen to Tai Ruby. If you have time to make sounds you have time to block or slash." She stepped back in shock. "Even you uncle Qrow!" She dropped her arms and looked dejected. That's when Qrow tried to lift her spirits. "Hey kid don't feel bad, here let's you and me spare for a bit." that brightens up Ruby's mood substantially. "Really!? like really really!? Awesome lets go!"

"Come on ruby, faster!" She crossed her arms and laughed like a villain. "I have not even shown you my true power! For I am the legendary-ooff" Qrow had thrown his sword at her making sure she gets hit with the handle. "Come on Ruby I haven't even moved an inch, plus I'm not as sober as I should be." He carefully walked over to his weapon again almost falling once. "Ok let's go for roun-" **"How curious, for one such as yourself to be babysitting a child."** Qrow put a hand to his head. **"Oh well, it will be interesting for you to meet with the legendary trickster of old and reveal your true power. You may even be on opposite sides of the coin and battle. Nevertheless he has already arrived and the fate of the world has yet another shoulder to lean on, whether he holds it up is his choice but yours is still unclear. We will meet again when the time comes."** When Qrow opened his eyes he found Ruby Looking at him with worry. "Are you ok uncle Qrow?" He smiled and said. "Told you I had too much. Now sorry Ruby but I have to sit down now." "Ok I'll keep training!" Qrow looked at the sky, pondering his newfound info. "A trickster huh?"

—

[Akira Kurusu] lvl 50

[Melee attack] 250

[Ranged attack] 300

[Defence] 0

[Money] 4.25

[Skills]

[Arsene] lvl 50

[Eiha, Cleave, Sakunda, Dream needle, Adverse resolve, Maeiha]

[Strength] 40

[Intelligence] 49

[Vitality] 33

[Agility] 60

[Luck] 27

[-]

For those of you who wanted to know.

Thank you all for reading this story and I hope that you are ready for what I have in store for you. Please send me ideas or requests you have in mind. If you find any grammer or spelling mistakes, please tell me. Should you wish to give critizism I will use it to become a better writer for you guys. See everone on the other side.


	2. Chapter 2: Lurking dread in the snow

While I was walking in the direction Arsene told me too, I couldn't help but feel strange as I walked. It felt as if I was in the metaverse all the time, as if shadows lurked past each corner. **"Hold, there is a deathstalker on thine right."** Suddenly a giant scorpion with white armour and gold stinger crawls forward, crushing a fallen tree trunk on the way. "SCREEE!" I pulled out my gun and shot it, pushing it back a few feet and breaking the bone like mask, making a large indent as well as releasing black spraying liquid out of the cracks. **"That was underwhelming."** "Tell me about it."

After walking for a few more minutes Arsene spoke again. **"Akira stop!"** "What's up?" **"Thou needs to change back. If thou is seen in thine outfit right now, think of what the people will do."** "Good point, but how do I do it?" **"You know how thou mask is stuck to thine face until thou wishes to take it off or summon a persona?"** "Yeah?" **"Just make it disappear with the same thoughts thou uses for thine mask."** I then thought about looking normal again and just like Arsene said, blue flames engulfed me and changed my clothes back to my shujin uniform. "What about my other clothes?" **"I only remember thine self from thou's days as a phantom thief. Those are the only clothes thou can "change" into."** "I see."

A few more minutes of walking and I found a giant wall with what looked like a checkpoint. Walking up I was met by a girl in white police uniform, grey bullet proof vest and a white beret. "Hello there. Are you trying to get into Atlas?" Her voice had an Australian accent but she was still speaking English, guess I have to bring out my English. "Yes I am." She looked at her clipboard and talked again. "What are your reasons for coming here?" Even though she was trying to be professional, she was betrayed by the kindness in her voice. "I'm looking for a place to stay." "Oh no! Did your colony get destroyed?" 'What does she mean by colony Arsene?' **"Colony's are towns outside of the city's, in more remote and dangerous parts of the world. When a colony is being built, it is really hard to keep it safe before it's overrun by grim, making colony's hard to establish. However there are colony's that do last but after awhile, are destroyed."** 'Ah, ok.' "Yes, my colony was a rather new one. I never had even seen a grim in my life." She looked down. "Wow… seems peaceful." I gave my best smile. "It was… until the grim showed up and wreaked havoc. I had almost died until a power rose up inside me and I found I could hide in shadows." She put both hands on her cheeks. "My how terrible!" She then looked at the clipboard again and suddenly shot up her head. "Oh did you see any weird grim?" 'They all look weird to me.' "What do you mean?" "You know any that were acting weird or different. We always ask so we know of new threats." "I believe I had already told you that I have no experience with grim." She sheepishly rubbed her head with the back of her head. "My apologies. I'm a trainee and am trying to get a job as an atlas officer, so I have to read off the questions." 'You should not be telling me this if your on border control.' She then motioned me towards a metal detector. "This way." I walked through and nothing went off. I let out a small sigh. "Thank you for your time!" She waved me off, but I left her with something interesting. "Oh, by the way. I remember a very odd looking shadow along the way." "A shadow? Don't you mean Grimm" "I am unsure if it was a grim or not but something was not quite right."

(Flashback. A little before he changed into his student clothes.)

Walking through the thick forestry and snow was no easy task. Snow got in my shoes, in my gloves and even in my mask! This did not stop me from asking questions though. "Arsene. What is the town ahead like?" **"Well it has a checkpoint like a an airport and it has one of the most powerful Militia at it's disposal, plus it is more like a city than a town."** "Well won't they be overly reluctant to let in a man who randomly appeared with weapons that could potentially level a forest in a day?" **"Don't you worry, thine weapons will disappear into thy soul once thoueth changes back."** "How do I change ba-" Suddenly I felt a presence that felt more familiar than before, not Grimm but something equally foreboding. Looking around I found a creature with long arms, prowling like it was stalking prey. It had long claws on the end of its long bone like arms, spine like a tail slithering behind, on its chest, a bunch of strange lanterns hung from the black rib cage with a deep red glow. When I looked at its head the familiar feeling made sense. It's head looked like a black pumpkin with dark deep red seeping through its crooked smile and triangular nose and eyes. "Isn't that Jack-o-lantern?" **"It is, but it seems corrupted. It's like it merged with a grim."** It suddenly crawled up a tree, leaving behind a trail of dark smoke. "Let's get moving before it comes back." "Agreed."

(End flashback.)

I told her the description while leaving out the parts about me talking to myself. She had a halo graphic device of some sorts and was typing in the details, although she was obviously shaken by it. "W-w-well thank you f-for the description. It s-sounds quite f-frightening." "Indeed." An imposingly powerful voice came from behind her, making her jump. A man in a white military uniform with a red tie and a white glove on his right hand walked up holding another one of those see through tablets. "Trainee Lazuli, please go with . I am going to take over now." "But sir-" "Now! Lapis!" A woman in similar looking clothes came from behind the bigger man. "Do not talk back against general Ironwood." "Yes ma'am." They walked out of the room and the man known as Ironwood took a seat. "That is quite the story young man." "Hard to forget when you stare death in the face." "Can you explain why you have no records in the database." **"This one is quite sharp. don't let your guard down"** "Well you see sir, my colony was rather new. When I was in school, they told us that we were all born around the time are town was made. Last I remember it was fourteen years old." **"Remember, the more technical the harder it is to lie over and over."** 'Don't worry I got this.' "So young man. You're saying that your colony was fourteen years old. Meaning you would still have a record if you were born elsewhere and relocated." **"Burn!"** 'Zip it!' I mentality recomposed myself. "Yes that would be correct but my colony was my birthplace. It was just destroyed two or so years ago. Making Me have to wander from area to area." He nodded. "I see, that makes sense. That would definitely explain why you would look seventeen. Sorry for the questions, we are looking into a case right now." "May I ask what it's about?" "Of course, just not any serious information. We are looking for the one who made that giant explosion of energy a day ago. I was going to ask, was that you're doing?" **"Oooo, busted!"** 'You were much more bearable when you couldn't speak.' **"thou wounds me so."** "If you are looking for the culprit of that weird energy, I might have seen him." Ironwood looked surprised. "Him?" **"Even though thou and I are the same. I am confused."** "There was a man in a black trench coat, grey shirt and red gloves." General Ironwood began typing on the glass in his hand. "Anything else?" "Yes. He had a black cane that he fought with and pistol with enough power to crush the skull of a deathstalker." With a nod, Ironwood put the device in his pocket and started out the door. But before he could. "He also had a white mask." Ironwood slightly turned his head. "Thank you. You may go now."

(Later.)

With that, Ironwood left and I packed my things to leave. Just as I was leaving I saw something in the corner of my eye. Someone was hunched over, hands on their knees and coughing...blood! I rushed over only to find a pale yet familiar face. It was Lapis and she looked like she was dying. "Are you ok!?" She suddenly got up and turned. The blood was everywhere and I saw a empty pill container to the left. "I'm f-fine, see." She tried to smile reassuringly but the blood dripping from her lip said something different. "Are you hurt? We should find you a doctor or something!?" "It would not help. I have an incurable disease. But I have good medicine and a job to do, so I can't show weakness! Please don't tell anyone or I'll be out of the job!" "Only if you get treated, you are in no state to move." She shook her head and tried walking off. "See I'm totally fine. There is nothing to worry abo-" The keyword was tried. A second later she was flat on her face. I walked over and pulled her up so that her arm was over my shoulder. "Let's get you someplace private so we can talk."

I found a secluded area with an unkempt bench off to the side. I sat Lapis down and sat on her left, she slumped down a bit, but was able to keep herself up. "Do you want to talk?" She sighed, then looked at me. "I was born with a weak body. My household was poor so we did our best to keep everyone together and happy. We soon found that there was a kind of medical procedure that could help increase my body physically and make my immune system to that of a normal persons, this made me happy. So throughout the year my parents saved up small amounts of money during the course of a year, they all had kept it as a gift for my birthday in a year or two, once they saved enough money. But when they surprised me by taking me a year early I was so ecstatic. When the doctors had put me to sleep for the surgery I thought that things would finally go our way. However when I woke up, the surgery had successfully made me stronger and made me immune to sicknesses. But I soon found out that my life was being shortened by the effects, making us pay more money to keep me alive."

It was a sad story, no doubt, but there was something odd about having a surgery effecting someone's life and not telling people about it. The doctors had probably made a mistake, trying to cover it up. "However I also found out that the reason I was able to get the surgery so fast was because my parents got a loan from some shady people. Now not only do they have to pay for my medical bills but also a monthly dept." She was now in tears, hands balling up into fists. I decided to pat her back. "I needed to get a job to help them pay for everything. But the only thing I'm good at is fieldwork such as hunting, tracking or farming. Plus with my semblance, which is a radar, I can help in a lot more fields. Since this job pays good and I can work with many high ranking officers I can finally be of some use. The problem is, the medicine I'm using is getting weaker and weaker and I might need a stronger dose. But that will just bring me back to the unforgiving cycle, I pay for an examination, I get stronger medicine, the medicine gets less effective. The only difference is that it will cost more." It truly is unforgivable to have someone in this state and extorting them out of money. Plus if my theory is correct, than the loan sharks are not the only ones in on it. I then proceeded to pat her back as she cried some more.

"Could you please keep this a secret. If they found out I'm like this they will fire me without question." I smiled, if I can make life better for people in this world, what better way is there to start. 'Hey Arsene.' **"Yes Akira?"** 'Could you find some of Takemi's medicine from the bag.' "Which one?" 'The one I was a guinea pig for.' After some mental searching, Arsene "came back" so to speak. **"I could only find the early kind that was less potent but not harmful. I'll send it to thou via thine bag so you don't have to come to the velvet room to get it."** 'Thank you' I was snapped back to reality by Lapis poking me. "Are you going to tell or not." "I'll do one better." I reached into my bag and brought out the medicine and handed to her, she hesitantly grabbed it and tried to read the contents. However it was in Japanese. "What is this?" "It's medicine that was used to fix someone in a similar kind of condition as you. This may be the early stuff but it is still effective." She looked at it thoughtfully, then spoke. "How much." "Pardon?" "How much does it cost." "That's the real kicker, it's completely free. Just take one a day." "Wait!" She grabbed onto my collar before I could leave. "What is your name?" "My name is Kurusu Akira, Kurusu being my last name." "Well mister Kurusu I cannot accept this. I have to work for it, that's my family motto." "Then how about this, in exchange for the medicine, I want access to the armoury at atlas." "I mean, I could give you my old card to the trainee armoury but why would you want that?" "Because I am tired of going around hitting Grimm with sticks I find around the forest." She laughed and held out her hand. "Deal! I will send the card to you when I find it."

 **"I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast restablished the vow of the Death arcana. Granting thou back the forgotten power."**

 **[Death lvl 1: trainee armoury.]**

After I walked her home, I began the search for a new place. After looking at the buildings however, I could not find one that looked like an apartment at all. But I found something better, I found a mask shop! I was just walking around when I was suddenly called out to. "Hey kid!" I looked over in the direction of the voice and found what looked like a hippie in a booth that had the words 'the masks we wear' on the top. "Could I interest you in some masks? We have many to choose from, here have a look." He handed me a paper mask with three triangles for the eyes and nose, it seemed ordinary until I used my third eye.

[mask of the bringer of misfortune]

[Shiki-Ouji. Price 60L]

"How much is it?" He crossed his arms and sighed. "It usually costs sixty or so lien, but I have a lack of customers recently. So for you how about three seventy five?" "Deal!" He took the mask and brought it to the back. He came out again with a bag and card. "This is a membership card that will gain points the more you buy from my store. If you come back that is." I nodded and walked off. **"Akira, break the mask and send it to the sea of souls."** I crushed the mask and it erupted into blue flames that went straight into my eyes. [Shiki-Ouji, lvl 21.]. We will most definitely come back here. I started walking once more but was soon stopped by a sudden obstacle. "Ooff!" I had bumped into a girl in a white dress with a gold trim that was as long as her ankles, she had a gold scarf that covered her shoulders perfectly and her sleeves were surprisingly puffy looking. I held out my hand to pick her up. "I'm so sorry! Here take my hand." **"Nice going harvinder."** 'The sarcasm is not needed.' I pulled her up once she grabbed my hand and let her brush herself off, once she did she bowed. "Thank you very much." Her voice was soothing and fair. While she bowed I could see what looked like ears that a wolf would have, however they were barely noticeable. **"A fanus huh?"** 'What's a fanus?' **"People with animal features and enhanced senses that are discriminated as a result."**

She suddenly hides behind me as a group of men in white come running up. "Hey kid! Hand over the girl!" 'Arsene, how do you think I should deal with this?' **"Talk them down and act if necessary."** 'Got it! Oh crap I have to sneeze.' The guy walks up and grabs me by the shirt. "Hey! Harry Potter, I'm talking to you!" *Heechooo* I slammed my head into his when I sneezed, causing him to fall back. **"Or you can just fight and ask questions later!"** "That bastard! Come on guys!" He waves over his two friends who start pulling out weapons. The one on the left pulled out brass knuckles while the one on the right pulled out a great sword. 'What in the world!' **"Don't be surprised. A lot of people have weapons in this world."**

The person on the right tried to do a stab attack. The blade was a lot lower than it should have been, showing that this was just a common thug with no skill, hell, even the knights in Kamoshidas castle, the slowest shadows I had encountered, were faster than this. I used my foot to push down the blade and got it stuck in the ground. I then ran up the blade and jumped on his face. Propelling me up in the air and making me land palm first on the leader of the group's head. Using my momentum I fliped him over the faunus girl. When I saw the one with brass knuckles coming, I quickly blocked and shoved my fingers in his eyes. I looked over at the girl and motioned her to leave. "Go!" Without any hesitation she left, leaving me with with the three fuckstkateers. The leader and maybe rapiswt got up again, his face, more red than panthers costume. "What the hell are you guys doing, get him!" I looked around to see I was surrounded. **"I think you know what to do."** With a smirk I switched my persona to shiki-ouji and watched as all my assailants attacks were nullified. "What the hell!" I changed into my phantom thief attire and spoke the words that always send a chill down my spine. "Persona!"

—

[Akira Kurusu] lvl 50

[Melee attack] 250

[Ranged attack] 300

[Defence] 0-50

[Money] 4.25-0.50

[Skills] Lvl 1 death: trainee armoury.

[Arsene] Lvl 50

[Eiha, Cleave, Sakunda, Dream needle, Adverse resolve, Maeiha]

[Strength] 40

[Intelligence] 49

[Vitality] 33

[Agility] 60

[Luck] 27

[Shiki-Ouji] Lvl 21

[Tarukaja, Taunt, Snap]

[Strength] 21

[Intelligence] 11

[Vitality] 15

[Agility] 16

[Luck] 13

For those who wanted to know.

Thank you again for reading the second chapter of this story while I plan out how our protagonist will end up in vale. As always, please tell me where to fix grammar and spelling as well as give ideas to make it better. The next chapter will have our Thief come up with a way to introduce himself to the world while he tries to figure out how to access people's hearts.


	3. Chapter 3: The soft drink and a hard one

"That was quite easy." I had already changed back to my uniform and was looking over my masterpiece. I honestly did kinda pity the men. I made Shiki-Ouji use taunt over and over until they were all enraged. Then watched as they pathetically tried to hurt me, however after awhile I got bored and had Shiki-Ouji use snap until they all collapsed. Now I'm having deep and meaningful conversations with my persona's while I wait for the cops to arrive.

'I'm telling you, that though all the girls in the phantom thieves of heart were indeed good looking. I would never try to create a harem just for conquest.' **"Akira! Just because thou would be deliberately trying to get them for thine self, does not mean there could not be love involved!"** **"The Marriage between man and woman is sacred you scoundrel! One should find the right lady, spend time to show her you care. Then, once you get married, show her you're ready to go through with the act." "What's wrong with going with my suggestions, if they all agree then what's the issue. Plus, who cares if you have, "fun times" with the lovely lady's! Just use protection and you'll be fine." "Are you sure you are a "gentleman", because it seems to me that someone's less of a treasure thief and more of a chastity thief!" "And it sounds to me that thou's a virgin!"** 'Enough! Why do you want to butt into my love life anyway Arsene?' **"Because I'm bored and all of the given literature from miss Lavenza's room has all been read." "You read half of the books. The other half you threw to the side." "Those books were all trash!" "Your books are the garbage ones! I've seen your favourite reads, half of them are plot with porn! The other half are the opposite, porn with plot!" "... I stand by what I said."**

As my personas argued with each other, I found that the police were rounding the corner. Once they stopped, I made my way over. The first cop spoke. "Well kid. You did us a solid catching these crooks, you said they were after a young woman in a white dress, correct?" I nodded. "Yes, That is correct. I don't know their intentions but I had assumed the worse." He looked at the three fallen foes. "I can see that." The policeman and his squad moved to apprehend them. I noticed the girl in question running towards me. She stopped in front of me, clearly out of breath. "Ha...ha...ha...w-what...is your...name." I smiled "How about we find a place to sit first" She nodded before walking down the street. She tried to keep her composure, but I could tell she was keeping herself from slumping her shoulders.

After we found a bench, she sat down quickly and I followed. Once she got her breath back, she spoke once more. "I would like to thank you again for saving me from those men. They wanted to bring me somewhere. Came up to me with smiles and everything. But I could tell they had other intentions." So she tried to escape after feeling danger, smart. "Oh! I haven't even told you my name yet!" She got up and prepared to introduce herself, but I stopped her. "It's not right for the fair lady to give her name first, allow me." I got up and held out my hand. "Kurusu Akira. Kurusu, being my last name." "Koca Cola. Koca, being my last name." 'This world must have something similar to Japanese culture. Though, it might be a bit different, the similarities when it comes to introduction are still there.' As I thought about how she spoke, I came up with a little test. "Naze byōki ni kansha shimasu ka, anata no namae o shitte īdesu." She was shocked by this. "You know my family's original language!" "What do you mean original?" "Well my family came from another land. My great grandfather still lives there with the rest of our family. While they all know English and our common tongue, great grampa only speaks the other language, making it hard for me to understand. But we go to visit from time to time." I nodded and prompted her to continue. "I was born here and learned English so I could speak with everyone and it kind of makes it hard to learn a language that is barely used anymore. Don't get me wrong, I try my best to learn my original language, though I admit I am not the best at it. I believe it was called… something with a J." She sounded unsure. "I used the Japanese language. It is my main language." "That's the name!" She put her hand to her chin as she started thinking.

After a few minutes she spoke again. "Would you… be willing to teach me how to speak that language?" She had her hands balled up in fists, as if she were imitating a boxer. Her eyes were filled with determination. I started to think about it, as she started fidgeting. "You don't have to if you don't want too. I understand." I will admit she looked cute at the moment. Even if I wanted too, I couldn't refuse. "I was just thinking about how I would tutor you. I haven't exactly taught anything to anyone before." She beamed before bowing. "Thank you so much!" "It's "Dōmo arigatōgozaimasu"!" She nodded "Dōmo arigatōgozaimasu!"

 **I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast restablished the vow of the Hermit arcana, granting thou back the forgotten power. [Hermit lvl 1:?]**

She then asked a question that reminded me of my previous task. "Where do you live? I would like to know so we can figure out times to meet up." "Actually…I just got to Atlas today. In fact I was looking for a place when I first bumped into you." She looked down, thoughts probably invading her mind. "How about you stay at my place? We have space! Plus I don't think dad will mind...much." "That would be lovely. I will do my best to earn my keep then."

 **Haaaa…I am thou, thou art I. Hermit arcana, yay. [Hermit lvl 1: A place to sleep.]**

"Great! I'll lead the way." She turned around and started walking off, I followed a few seconds after. **"..."** '...' **"..." "Is she legal?"** 'Again with this' **"Is every thought of yours perverted outside of battle!?" "Well… have you looked at her?" "That's it!"** I began hearing glass shattering and the terrified yells of Arsene in my mind. **"Eiha!" "I nullify that!"** *crack* **"Go to sleep!" "That too!"** *clang* **"Akira! Help me!"** I began to whistle a tune and quicken my pace. *crack* **"I have you now!" "Have mercy instead!" "You don't need mercy, only a purification!"** What an eventful evening.

As we walked down the shoveled sidewalk, Cola began to ask questions about myself. I told her about my semblance and some bended personal info. I didn't tell her about my highschool life at Shuujin though, not even how I was guilty for a crime I did not commit. She stopped and turned to look at a building. "This is it." It was an odd looking place for sure. It looked like a cross between a dojo and a small American four story apartment, it has a Japanese style but the colour scheme looked like greyed white cement. "It reminds me a bit of home." We walked in and, just like I thought, there was a dojo layout with sliding doors and lit candles, in the centre of the room, a square of worn mats replaced the wood flooring.

"It's quite nice here. I assume the bedrooms are in the back or upstairs, yes?" "That's correct." It wasn't Cola's voice however. "The dojo is the business but any good business owner knows that your business should be close to home." A man jumped down from the rafters. Two things crossed my mind in an instant. One, the building was actually three floors high instead of four. Two, The man with a hulking mass of muscle that you "shido"nt want to mess with was the father that, judging by Cola's last line about him, ate bears for breakfast. "And what better way to do that, than having your business as your home!" He towered over me, a "man" with blackish grey hair and a beard with the longest parts being at his jaw instead of his chin. His clothes were that of a marital artist, white with a black trim and a belt that barely held his top to his his revealed chest. If he had not landed on the mats I would have, without a doubt, been knocked over. "So. Who might you be?"

The man had us sit on the floor. As he crossed his legs. He listened to Cola's story intently before speaking to me. "Well. I believe I must thank you for helping my daughter, I am eternally grateful. However, I can't just let you stay for free. From what Cola has told me, you have no job at the moment and cannot guarantee that you will. So I can only give you one option. Go back home, we have a hard enough time as it is. With just the two of us." "D-dad!?" He stood firm. Even with his daughters begging. Though I could see why he would act this way. Sojiro didn't even let me around his daughter because of how she was at the time, this really isn't different. Why would you let a complete stranger into your house, even if they saved your family, you never know if they have ulterior motives.

"Your father is right Cola." Her head snapped a tad bit too quickly for my liking, any faster and she would have snapped her neck. "He can't just let a random person come in here to stay, when he only has enough food and money for two." She began negotiating. "Y-you could do chores; dishes, sweeping-" "But that wouldn't solve the problem. Sure I could do chores, but why would you go out of your way to take care of some random outsider?" Her father nodded. "Precisely. So I'm sorry my daughter, but I can't let him stay." She was hesitating to speak, she had her mouth open but nothing came out. She stopped trying to speak and decided on a dejected silence. Which I broke to make a point. "There are only two ways I see myself staying here. If I had enough money to support myself, as well as enough to add to his bank account." He nodded to confirm I was correct. "Or If I am someone he trusts, someone he could go through thick and thin with. Though maybe not just someone he trusts, but someone he respects as well. If I were trusted and respected, he would probably make an exception." He smiled at that. "You're damn right! Money doesn't matter if they are like family!" 'Well said.' "Too bad I don't have either." I looked over to Cola who looked depressed, she had a look that said she wanted it to be over.

Arsene spoke up however. **"Akira. I don't mean to get in the way but... I can't stand to see the lady upset. I ask, why hasn't thou put up a fight?"** 'That's because this isn't the battle.' **"Is that so?"** I got up and walked to the end of the mats opposite to . "Well at least not yet." Coca and her father looked at me, Coca with surprise and her dad with interest. "Oh? And how would you go about getting them?" "Well… this is a dojo after all." Both of them were speechless, the silence only broken by the laughter of her father. "Hahaha! Are you challenging me!?" "Well if I've learned one positive thing from fighting, it's that they help the opponents understand one another in the end. Plus it will prove that I am willing to work for what I wish." He started to think, smirk still visible on his face. "Coca! Clear the field!" She ran over to me with concern written all over her face. "You don't have to fight!" I sighed. "Please Miss Kola, clear the field." She frowned before getting off the mats.

called out to me. "Young man! In order for you to win, you must knock me down! In order for me to win, I need to make you unable to fight! That should make it fair! Now, there are weapons in the door to your right. Choose the weapon of your choice." I shook my head. "No thank you." "Confidant are ya?" "I said that this was a dojo. Most people fight hand to hand during martial arts matches." "Underestimation it is then." He breathed in a long and slow breath. Then took stance, making a strange, strong energy blast through me. Burning my lungs as the pressure on my joints increased.

[Playing: Willpower.]

 **"Akira! Do not take this opponent lightly! He has aura!" Arsene spoke up 'That super power thing?' "Yes! Be on guard, we don't know his capabilities or his semblance! Play a close hand and use your semblance as a surprise!"** 'Got it!' **"We should warn you master. If you wish to keep your identity secret, we will be unable to help you to our full capabilities. The power we give you will be lessened, the elemental resistances will be weakened and you will be unable to use skills."** 'Thanks for the info Shiki-Ouji.' My attention was brought back to my opponent. "My name Koca Zerou. Koca, being my last name." "My name is Kurusu Akira. Kurusu, being my last name."

I used my third eye to see what I am dealing with. Zerou glowed a bright red, indicating he was going to be tough to fight, let alone beat. But should I play my cards right, I will be able to come out victorious. But before I could even move, a cage made of wood came down from the ceiling, stopping use both from leaving the mat floor. My third eye also changed to a more familiar format.

 **[Zerou Hideyoshi Koca]**

 **[Phys-?/Gun-?/Wind-?/Elec-?/Fire-?/Ice-?/Psy-?/Nuke-?/Curs-?/Bles-?]**

He closed in on me in a matter of seconds and threw the first punch. I just barely dodged it before I did a combat roll out of the way. I tried to attack him before he could turn around, trying my luck with a jump kick. Only to get batted away with his arm. Catching myself with one hand, I flipped so I could land safety. Zerou was already there with a left hook at the ready. 'Crap! Shiki-Ouji!' The punch knocked me back a few feet, even though I had physical resistance, it still hurt. Before Zerou could get another hit in, I flipped myself over him and gave a swift kick to his lower spine to propel myself backwards, but the effect wasn't all that great. He barely moved a muscle from the impact. He turned and charged towards me again before he jumped, trying to punch me from the air. I rolled under him and fell into his shadow. He turned around to search for me but I reappeared behind him and met his jaw with my fist as he turned. He looked up again with a smirk.

"You're quite agile kid, I'll give you that. However, so am I." His hair began to glow blue at the ends and similar blue markings started to glow beneath his shirt. He moved much faster than before, kicking me in the stomach then uppercutting my jaw. I hit the ceiling and landed on one of the beams in the rafters. He was also up there by the time I pushed myself up. This was getting ridiculous! He jumped over to me beam by beam at an alarming rate. The punches that followed came in quick succession. I was hit a few times before I flipped him over me and down to the floor, while he made a perfect landing.

Using this chance, I jumped into the shadows of the ceiling before he looked back up. "You can't hide from me!" His hair and markings began to glow brighter, making it bright enough to trap me in the roof. He got back up to the rafters in a quarter of a second, leaving a light trail on the wall to his body. Little did he know, his light had made the beam above him create an exit for me. I used this time to ambush him. Flinging myself feet first into his face and down to the floor. I had successfully downed him.

He got up with a frown on his face and made his way towards me. But stopped when a certain young woman came in between us. "He won fair and square! You can't hit him anymore!" He gave a deadpan stare. "Sweaty, I'm not going to hit him. So what if he used his semblance to make surprise attacks. I may dislike it, but in reality, you must use any means necessary to win when it's a life or death situation. I will admit I am angry, but not at Akira, I'm angry at myself for falling for the attacks. I'm just trying to thank him for a good match." She nodded and moved out of the way to let her father extend his hand. "Put your hand away." "Excuse me!?" I walked back to my original starting place. "In reality, enemies won't be beaten when they simply fall down either. You catch my meaning?"

He stood there, still as a stone with his hand still outstretched. He slowly balled his fist as his arm starts to shake, a savage smile replacing the one from the previous round and in his eye, I saw a storm with dancing lightning in them. His body went from shaking to vibrating, his hair fully became a light blue and his entire body started giving off sparks. I finally figured it out, his semblance is acceleration, and as he gains speed, so does the static. Should I be right, I won't be able to handle his onslaught without the proper speed. 'Arsene!' But I was already being hit, I could only block one out of ten punches he made. I was losing consciousness quickly. He stopped and brought back his fist, before he threw what looked like five punches at once. I hit the wall but kept myself propped up against it.

The sound of wild electricity stopped and the large man walked towards me. Cola spoke up with a nervous tone. "Did he gain your trust?" He looked at his daughter. "No. He did not. He is overconfident, does not use his semblance as much as he could and his hand to hand combat is that of a novice. If I'm being honest, his whole fighting style is flawed, he should train with something that works better with that semblance of his." She looked down with a sad smile. "I see…" "Or at least that would be the case if it was true." "Huh" "Though his actions would be taken as overconfidence, the look in his eye told me he knew that he would not win. And even though his hand to hand is subpar at best, I could tell that you were more proficient in another kind of combat style. Tell me Akira, what is your weapon of choice?" I pushed off the wall and steadied myself. "A knife and a pistol." He gave me a heart filled laugh. "That would make more sense. Sneak attacks are much more effective with piercing weapons than blunt force. Plus with your agility and durability, you would most definitely be on par with the much more skilled hunters and huntresses in training. I'm not joking either, second year hunters and huntresses in training are almost always hit by my first punch and third years can't even keep up with with my second stage of speed." Cola spoke up once more. "Does that mean you were joking about the trust thing?" "No. That was true… but you don't always trust people in your family, do you?" She had a look of shock on her face. "What!" "Trust comes into play once the people in question have been together for some time. I don't trust him, but that does not mean I don't respect him." I smiled at that. He reminds me of Sogiro so much, he's kind hearted, even under his intimidating outer shell we call skin. **"Truly an honorable gentleman." "Indeed. He has all the things a lord should have personality wise."**

Cola jumped into her father's arms and gave him a hug. "Dōmo arigatōgozaimasu!" Zerou lifted her above his head. "You're finally learning Japanese!?" She nodded. "Akira taught me." He put her down and walked up to me. I then found myself in a bear hug with a crying man. "You have d-done me a *sniff* great service *sniff* Waaaah!" After I had escaped and popped my spine, I was surprised by another hug, this one, much more gentle. "You did it!" She let go and made way for one of the sliding doors. "I'll show you where your room is." I quickly followed after her. 'You are awfully quiet right now Arsene.' **"I agree. Did I hit you too hard?" "No words can describe my happiness right now."**

Once we made it to the room she opened it and walked in. As I walked in, I admired the simple yet comfortable feeling of the room. It looked like an office space, with a bookshelf in the wall, a desk and a filing cabinet. The look, however did not change the fact that there was now a bed and dresser in the corner, out of place, yet likeable. "This is your room. We will provide new sheets every now and then but it is up to you to change them." I nodded and put my bag down. "Now let's go have dinner, I'm a tad hungry." I nodded then proceeded to the kitchen with Cola.

When I got down the stairs, ready to eat, I will admit I wanted a feast. But what I found was not a feast. Instead it was random fast food leftovers that were strung across the counter. "May I ask why there is a bunch of junk food on the table?" She chuckled nervously while tapping the points of her fingers together. "Well my Dad doesn't know how to cook and I am kind of clumsy in the kitchen. So we order out so we don't waste money on "trying" to cook. This is why it's hard to support ourselves, even if we wanted to save money by cooking our own foods, we can't." I nodded. They are being weighed down by their inability to cook and have to resort to wasting money. "How about this? You guys leave the shopping and cooking to me. I know my way around a kitchen and have been told by many people my cooking is good." She jumped in front of me and grasped my hands, another flare of determination and hope in her eyes. "Would you really!?" "Oh course." She jumped with excitement. "Thank you so much! Dad did you hear tha-dad?" Cola and I looked around for Zerou but couldn't see him. Until we looked down on the floor. "Dad!" We helped him get back on his feet and lead him to a chair. "Are you ok?" He gave her heart filled smile. "Oh course I am! I'm just old, my back just hurts from the battle we had." She sighed with relief before her eyes shot open and turned into a glare. "You haven't had your pills, have you?" He crossed his arms and pouted. "I don't like them! They make me feel old. Besides I lost them." Cola's face became sickening sweet as she pulled out a small bottle out of her pocket. "Well it's a good thing I asked the doctor for extra then, isn't it." Zerou tried to make a break for it. "You'll never catch me alive!" But He was stopped when Cola jumped on him. "Take your pills!" "Fuck no!" "Take your damn pills!" "Screw you!" 'I think I'm gonna like it here.' That was my last thought before, I listened to the Koca family argue into the night.

—

[Akira Kurusu] lvl 50

[Melee attack] 250

[Ranged attack] 300

[Defence] 0-50

[Money] 4.25-0.50

[Skills] Lvl 1 death: trainee armoury.

[Arsene] Lvl 50

[Eiha, Cleave, Sakunda, Dream needle, Adverse resolve, Maeiha]

[Strength] 40

[Intelligence] 49

[Vitality] 33

[Agility] 60

[Luck] 27

[Shiki-Ouji] Lvl 21

[Tarukaja, Taunt, Snap]

[Strength] 21

[Intelligence] 11

[Vitality] 15

[Agility] 16

[Luck] 13

For those who wanted to know, it did not change.

Thank you so much for reading the third chapter of this story and let me say. This chapter was really difficult to bring together. I knew what I wanted and what I needed to get across in the chapter but didn't know how to put it together properly. I also felt that there was a lack of character body language and will work on that aspect in later chapters. Thanks once more and as always, send me suggestions, my grammar and spelling mistakes as well as criticism. One last little tidbit though. I am Canadian and spell without putting (,) these in front of the word and all the time.


	4. Chapter 4: Nightmare during Christmas

Arthur note:

Allow me to explain some things about the story. I write as much as I can every day while I have free time. When I am on the bus or when I am on the toilet. Once a chapter is done I go through it twice, the first in google docs and a second time in . After I think it's ready, I hand it to you guys to read. While I was looking through my reviews I saw something that I decided to clear up quickly before I add to this chapter. I know full well that Shiki-Ouji Nulls physical damage. Akira is just in a weaker state when he is not in his phantom thief attire. Should a persona give him an agility boost of 50 normally, he will get a boost of 25 when he is in everyday attire. This change in attire doesn't just affect the power though, it also affects the resistance's. Shiki-Ouji Nulls physical moves normally but when Akira is "under cover", Shiki-Ouji only makes him strong against it. Another thing I should point out is that semblance's effect attacks more than they would usually. Zerou's attacks are physical but his semblance adds electric damage on top of that. Should Akira null physical moves and say, yang activated her semblance. She would be attacking with mixed affinities instead of just one. That should explain everything. Though the main reason Akira was getting hurt was mostly just from the weakened resistances and the sheer power of Zerou. I would also like to point out that RWBY is owned by rooster teeth and Persona 5 is owned by Atlus. Now without further ado. Let's begin.

—

I was the sitting in my room after I got settled. I decided to sneak away while Cola and Zerou were fighting. If I am being honest, I didn't want to eat cold leftovers from fast food places. My plan for tomorrow is to go shopping for actual ingredients so I can make actual food. But for now, it is time to sleep, it is always quite difficult sleeping in places you don't know and I know exactly how to deal with it. You go to sleep earlier so you can get comfortable and hopefully fall asleep at a decent time. So I closed my eyes and watched as everything goes black.

When I open my eyes, I found myself in the velvet room, wearing my phantom thief attire. This time, twilight flooded the room and someone was sitting in the chair in the middle of the main room. **"Trickster. Welcome to my velvet room."** "What are you doing Arsene?" In the chair, Arsene was tied up with origami and a single tag was stuck on his forehead. **"I am the new master of the room and am ready to guide thou down the right path."** I ripped off the rusting door and chucked it at him, the corner, hitting him perfectly in the face. Fun fact, the chair is stuck to the ground.

"Why are you really here?" **"Shiki-Ouji said this was my punishment…"** 'Of course.' **"Though I did bring thou here to talk about important matters."** I nodded before walking out of my cell and standing in front of the fixed desk. **"You can probably tell that this world is distorted, corrupted even. It may not be shown, but the feeling is strong enough to be seen without the use of thy eyes."** I did feel it all around me, though it is faint, it is still there. **"That's why we must act. If that Grimm persona is any indication. The metaverse is "leaking" into the real world. That is why thou can use thy phantom thief abilities outside of the metaverse. Personas, are also breaching through these cracks. But with the lack of a shadow or compatible person to inhabit, it latches to Grimm, something without a soul. This not only powers up the Grimm, but it also corrupts the persona. The metaverse is leaking because the amount of corrupt wills is making the metaverse reach its limit. We must act fast and deal with the source."** This is a bigger problem than I thought, at least I know what I am dealing with.

Shiki-Ouji then enters the room with what looks like a bucket of pellets. **"That's why we need to ask something. Master, what is our plan. Sure we could do what we did before but with the looming danger of the Grimm and the constant threats of others. People won't even bat an eye if we gave them a calling card."** 'What is our plan?' If what Shiki-Ouji is saying is correct, a simple calling card wouldn't have the same impact as it did with the people in Tokyo. "How does the the interweb work in this world?" **"From what I have seen, the people of remnant use the web for everything. Even the smallest companies use their own private networks. But all of them are connected to a single tower on each continent that acts as the main system."** Arsene's info was indeed helpful. If I used the internet like I did when we attacked Shido, then the people of remnant would probably see "the Joker" as a presence of hope while the criminals quake in their shoes.

"Shiki-Ouji. Since you're the only one who isn't… tied up with things, could you find me a way to get into a worldwide broadcasting network. I have a plan that needs access to it, as well as a computer." Shiki-Ouji bowed before leaving the room. **"What does thou have in mind Akira?"** "While I was alive on earth, Futaba had given me lessons on hacking things. She gave me great ways to attack servers and connections like she did while we were phantom thieves. I will probably have to learn how to cover my tracks though, Futaba had said when teaching me that, "after you figure out a good fighting style, then you work on your defense stat.", she never got to teach me how to create a system on my computer to combat someone on the other side." **"Well you may not have too."** Shiki-Ouji returned with a computer and a charging cable. **"This is miss Futaba's old computer, I'm sure that there are probably programs set in place to stop people from tracking you master. Even if they could, I doubt that they would be able to find you if you hack in when you're here."** "I thought technology didn't work properly in the metaverse? If I remember correctly, this prison was located deep in the depths of momentos." **"While that would be true, the velvet room didn't originally belong in the metaverse. The only reason it was there was because a god came and moved it."** That made a bit more sense. So we need to connect Futaba's computer to the main network. "You wouldn't happened to have Futaba's USB would you?" **"Of course."** I smirked under my mask, This was going to be good.

When Shiki-Ouji left again, Arsene spoke. **"Akira. While you may have thy mask, I think people will be able to put two and two together should they hear thine voice and see thine hair."** "What do you suggest?" **"I can change thy attire when I wish, it's because of me that they look the way they do after all. While I can't change thy hair and eye colour, I can change thine height and allow you to use my voice by making a hidden collar that cancels out thou's voice and replaces it with my own for you. But should thou do this, thou will not have access to my powers."** "That's fine. I don't think I will need to use persona's on actual people. Passively you may be stronger, but when it comes to resistances Shiki-Ouji has you beat. So no offence, but he will be more useful." **"Hahaha! Don't worry. Thou and I are one in the same, I know exactly what you mean."** I nodded and headed back to my cell to return to the real world but was stopped by Arsene. **"Before thou must go, could thou possibly take this tag off my face? It's kind of a nuisance."** The tag was most definitely made from Shiki-Ouji, it looked like a seal. "This one?" **"Yes. That is correct."** "You mean the one that looks like these ones on the desk?" **"Ummhum."** I picked up all of the tags on the table and started putting them one by one on Arsene. **"Hey! Stop that! Noooooo…"**

Later

I woke up and looked at the clock, it was currently 5:47 am. I got up and made my downstairs, when I got to the kitchen, I looked for something to eat. I found a box of cereal called Pumpkin Pete's marshmallow flakes, on the cover, it had a picture of a girl that looks like a spartan. After eating the cereal, I left the Koca household in search for some stores that sell groceries. **"Thou does realize that you don't have any money, right?"** 'Well I want to at least know where to get the ingredients when the time comes. It is important that a phantom thief knows where they are going after all.' That was my last thought before I slipped down an icy snowbank.

When I picked myself I found myself face to face with a store that was called: Jokes and Japes, the "low key" gag shop. Curiosity overtook me and I headed inside. When I closed the door behind myself, I found myself in, what kinda looked like a robbery. There was one guy putting a bunch of random props into a brown bag while the person behind the counter just kinda asked them to stop. "You don't need this either." "Well I mean someone might." "What a lovely family photo." "That was, kind of a keepsake." "Cool glasses." "Well I kinda need that for my e-oh there he goes." The… robber walked towards me without paying attention, allowing me to kick him where the Sun doesn't shine and give the bag back to the man. "Thank you sir, I would have done something but he put glue on and in front of my chair when I wasn't looking." I nodded before turning around to see that the other man was running away. I then decided to look around the store for a bit. After a small while of searching I found a air horn. I picked it up and smiled, for this reminded me of prank day at Shuujin.

(Flashback: Shuujin academy, prank day.)

Today was prank day, the day all the students pulled out their creativity to prank their fellow students and teachers. I was currently in 's class, waiting for him to come back to class and begin the lesson. Everyone had put "traps" all around the room. One person put a boxed lunch above the door, another had changed out Hiruta's pen for a defective one and someone had put a whoopee cushion on his seat. All of these pranks were good, but I could tell these were not going to work. All of these pranks have been used to the point they were called classics. If someone is observant enough, they could easily avoid them. Sadly, everyone else didn't realize was one of those individuals. Before he walked into class, he used a measuring stick to knock the lunchbox off the door frame. When he made his way to his seat, he took the whoopee cushion off his chair and sprayed Madara, the culprit of the prank, with the ink pen. Madara was obviously the culprit, this is because he had tried this once before.

"Alright class! It is time for today's lesson. Turn to page 125 please." He turned around and grabbed for the chalk, only to find empty space. "Oh my." He walked up to his desk to get another piece of chalk from his drawer. Little did he know, I had already got my prank ready the day before, thanks to the help of . As soon as he opened the drawer, the string attached to the other side of drawer pulled the handle of the air horn that was in 's drawer. *BEEEH* "Gah!" fell back into his seat, making it roll back and hit the wall and activate the air horn I hid inside the chair. *BEEEH* "Aaahhh!" He then fell off his chair. He slowly started to get back up, completely ignorant to the fact that the drawer didn't just stop with an air horn. For inside the drawer was a timer that was set for a minute, that will activate once the string is pulled. That timer is not just connected to just one other air horn. *BEEEEEEEEEE-*X10. As they tried to figure out how stop the continuous blare of ten air horns, I sat back and smiled a smile that would rival the devils.

(End Flashback)

"Do you want that?" I looked at the shop keeper. "How much is it?" He shook his head before placing five more on the counter. "Consider them a gift for helping me out." I walk up and put them in my bag, I thanked him as I walked out of the store. 'Next thing to do is find where I can connect Futaba's computer to the CCT. Shiki-Ouji. Do you know a place I can hack into.' **"Yes. If you go through that alleyway and into the main street, it should be a straight path to the CCT tower. That is your best shot at getting into the network."** I followed Shiki-Ouji's instructions and headed down the dark alley. After walking a few feet into the shortcut, I felt the ground below me disappear, as I fell into the shadows.

While I was free falling, my clothes became my phantom thief clothes. However that wasn't the only thing that changed. I was out of the shadows but falling upwards instead of downwards, the buildings around me crumbled and shifted as if they were foam. Stone platforms began floating "Bebove?" me and iron pipes narrowly missed my body. It wasn't until I was winded and flung by a extending girder that I stopped falling. "...Ow." I slowly got up and took in my surroundings. I was upside down on a chunk of concrete that seemed like it was frozen in time. As my sight was directed upwards, I saw what looked like a jumbled mess above me. I then decided that it would be safest for me to move to higher ground.

After I got high enough, I took a break on the window of a collapsing building and watched as masked shadows shaped like people, moved in groups to different destinations. "Arsene. What is this place?" **"This is a distorted part of the Atlas equivalent to mementos, or at least, what it would have looked like if Yaldabaoth hadn't taken over."** I deadpanned. "You mean having a god of control is the only way these places can have proper gravity?" **"I did say this is a distorted part of this place, did I not?"** I was curious as to what the marching faceless shadows above me were. "What are those?" He chuckled a bit. **"First let me tell thou what this place is."** "Isn't this the metaverse?" **"It is the larger form of a palace, one thast taken the shape of the people's collective cognition. This is known as a kingdom, a place much more surreal than a palace and can have entire palaces inside."** "I see…" **"You and thy friends never truly got to experience what the metaverse is truly like. So let me explain how things work around here. The shadows you see above you are known as personal shadows. These shadows are the shadows of actual people on the other side, who aren't distorted or corrupted. These shadows look the way they do because everyone in Atlas doesn't really care about getting to know every random stranger. To everyone else, you are white noise, something that is there but doesn't require attention. That is why they take the shape they do."** "What about well known people, like pop stars and show hosts?" **"Should someone like that be on the other side, there will be a split, the cognition of what the people of think of them, a most likely untrue form and their shadow, which holds their actual desires and secrets. Should a cognition like this be created, you would probably find them where the public think they will most likely be, with clothes that match what the people think they are like. Like how people see a president in a presidential building while wearing a business suit. Of course, this isn't how they actually act, their shadow is the one that habers that knowledge. But because all the personal shadows all take the same form here, the chance of finding a popular person's real shadows are slim."** "I see." **"That is why it is imperative that you refrain from striking these shadows down. Should you do that, the person whose shadow you killed will have a mental shutdown. Though personal shadows are shadows that aren't distorted, sometimes these shadows will run off and create palaces."** "So this is where shadows that don't have palaces go?" **"More like a place shadows with palaces leave. When a person's shadow becomes distorted, it will hide itself in a place it feels safe and rips off its mask. The process then separates the shadow from the kingdom's cognition connection and molds the place it hides using its own cognition. Because a palace runs off of a single cognition, the creator, or ruler of the palace changes its shape to what it thinks of itself."** "So that's how it works." **"Yes. But I only talked about the first kind of shadows, the next kind will be more familiar. These shadows are known as sentry shadows, these are the ones you and your friends fought inside palaces. These shadows don't come from people, but from palaces or kingdoms. These shadows are actually cognitions of non specific groups of people, groups of individual people that are known under one name like the police or militia. These cognitions are like personal shadows in a kingdom, they are blacked out because the public don't really think of the individual people in the group but the group itself. When they are created, they take a shape that matches the place it wishes to defend, weather it is a palace or a place inside the kingdom. Once they take shape, a persona is also born from the aura a place gives off. The key difference between a personal shadow and a sentry shadow, is the cartoonish proportions a sentry shadow has. And because they come from cognitions, they are safe to fight."**

This is a lot to take in at once, so much info we were left in the dark about now appearing all at once. I looked at the shadows to try and tell them apart but, all I saw were PS's. "Where are the the SS's?" **"Though sentry shadows are mass produced, they only appear when there's a threat to what they are guarding. Because no one knows who the phantom thieves of heart are, thou can't be a threat to the public. The sentry shadows in palaces are always there though, they attack because trespassing is unwelcome."** Well it's understandable that people wouldn't want other people to see their true colours. **"Sometimes a sentry shadow decides to leave its birthplace in search for a new place to recuperate. These are known as wandering shadows, shadows that clump together with other leaving shadows and create huge masses of darkness, similar to the shadows in mementos. Should they find a home, they will split apart again and take a form to match the other sentries. I know it's a lot to take in but that about wraps it up. Any questions?"** I shake my head. **"Good, now let's get out of this place!"**

After a little more climbing, I found myself in a bowl shaped arena. Before I could take another step, a swirl of black smoke appeared and started summoning familiar looking creatures. In front of me were Beowolf's with squared marble masks that cover their snouts like muzzles. The three points that are usually on it's arms were fused into one. They looked different, sure, but it wasn't anything like the thing behind it. I remember fighting something similar looking on my way to Altas, I only fought 1 mind you, but its figure reminded me exactly what I'm dealing with. The beast I was thinking of was commonly know as an Ursa, but unlike an Ursa, the bone mask on its face now looked smooth and glass like, with it's normal teeth and bottom jaw being replaced with only long, Saber like teeth. On it's back it had a shell of some sort, that opened up like a pair of hands.

I braced myself against my new foes. "What the hell is that!" **"I'm not sure! It doesn't act like any other shadow!"** "What does that mean!?" **"Thou shouldn't even be getting attacked, thou art not a threat to the populis! These things don't even have persona's inside them!"** I suddenly began to feel hot, I jumped out of the way and sure enough, a plume of fire appeared right where I was standing. I reached for my mask while blocking a strike from one of the Beowolf's. "Shiki-Ouji!" **"Oh, ok, I guess I'm just done here."** Shiki-Ouji took form and forced the wolves backwards. "Snap!" **"Yes master!"**

He aimed both arms towards the group and started launching blade like paper towards them. This took out around seven out of ten of the wolves and leaving one without legs, one without arms and one without a head. Shiki-Ouji would have continued but because I was out of practice all the snap attacks were wearing on me. This would have made me Ursa chow if Shiki-Ouji hadn't stopped it. **"Akira! More behind you!"** I turned to see clouds of smoke were collecting again. "Shiki-Ouji! You take care of the bear while I deal with these ones." **"Those aren't your only problem master!"** My attention was brought to the last few crippled Beowolf's charging me, even the one without a head. The one without legs lunged at me first, I avoided it by slamming my foot into it's skull and shooting it twice, once in the skull, obliterating the mask and once in the torso, making it revert to smoke. My next enemy, the headless one, was flailing it's claws wildly, trying to hit me. I parried two of the swings and stabbed my cane into it's chest, setting it aflame. The sound of crackling sparks filled my ears, but they weren't from the fire, I dodged just in time to avoid a lightning strike that came from the armless wolf.

Shiki-Ouji wasn't doing all that well on his own. He could nullify the bears attacks but not the magic it used. It created a light blue ball that shot down from above, the nuke skill frelia, and obliterated Shiki-Ouji, returning him to his masked form. "Crap!" Spikes of ice try to skewer me while I came up with a plan. To dodge the attack I jumped at the bear and kicked off its face to become airborne. "Arsene!" Arsene took form and held me in the air, allowing me to see my surroundings. The bear stared up at me while the reinforcements closed in on us, along with a wolf that looked like a grown up version of the first Beowolf I had encountered. It had extra plates of marble on it's body, it's mask, now able to open vertically. The scariest part of it however, was the two extra arms with blades at the ends. "Arsene, let me go and use maeiha!" **"As you wish."** I dropped down and used my gun to blast my way over the crowd. **"Hahahaha!"** Before they were engulfed by a dark light show and turned to smoke. While the smoke was still there, the alpha Beowolf that had somehow survived charged at me, making me unable to block the attack.

I was thrown into a wall and fell on my knees. Promoting me to shoot the wolf in the eye, cracking the mask. The wolf didn't stop though, it scratched my mask as I rolled under it. 'If this keeps up, stopping corruption will be the last thing I do.' It back handed me, forcing me back as I blocked the attack with my cane. 'You used to be much better than this! Come on Akira, you killed a god!' It swiped at my feet, making me jump back to avoid the other bladed appendages. 'Even though I did all that and hung up the towel, one fact remains. I may have lost my friends, I may be out of practice, but the phantom thieves of hearts don't know defeat or victory. The only thing they know is justice, it doesn't matter if I feel alone, it doesn't matter if I'm out of practice. All that matters is getting the job done, I can improve myself as I go. And I'm never truly alone anyways, for the phantom thieves of hearts were made from all of us. Now it is up to me to carry my friends legacies!' The wolf did a downward swing with all its arms. I blocked it effortlessly.

 **"I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast remembered thy past struggles and hast fully remembered what it was like to be what you once were. Thou's will has made your very soul break free from the laws of the world. Thus creating a brand new arcana." [Joker Lvl1: Turning tide.]**

I smirked and kicked off its chest. The distance gave me time to use a classic technique, the down shot, to "knock down" the alpha wolf. "Time to turn the tide!" I jumped into its shadow and swung upwards with my cane, sending it upwards and allowing me to shoot it twice as well as launch myself upwards to meet it midair. Once we were face to face, I hit it with a barrage of swings from my cane and shots from my gun before I hit it downward. "This is the end!" I launched myself after it and stabbed its skull with my cane, officially turning it to smoke and leaving behind white Lien and a skill card with a single red line on it, an Eiha card. I finished just in time to see Arsene fall to the ground and burst into flames. **"This adversary is strong."** "For now. Shiki-Ouji, Tarukaja!" **"Yes master!"** I could feel the power inside me grow as the red particles were drawn into my body. "Arsene, sakunda! Then while I distract it, hit it with a dream needle!" **"Very well."** Arsene appeared and shot green dust at the bear, effectively slowing it as I ran to meet it head on. It tried to hit me, but the speed difference was very noticeable. I dodge the first swing and parried the other with enough force that an audible cracking sound was heard. **"Time to steal your life!"** Arsene's feathers struck it's back and put it to sleep. "Time for a beheading!" **"Hahaha!"** Arsene then finished it off with an axe kick to the neck.

I took a deep breath of relief once it turned to smoke, leaving behind a card with a large Z. **"I believe I figured it out, What these things are. In our world, everyone didn't have to worry about the constant threat of a vicious foe. This world does however, creating shadows that represent that fact. Rough shadows that are constantly violent and appear out of nowhere."** "That would make sense. Now let's get out of here before more come." **"Agreed." "I also agree, however. It would be a shame to leave this money and loot on the ground."** I looked around to see cards of Lien that were orange, yellow and grey with only one card that was white and another that was red.

In the end I had obtained; 7 orange, 3 yellow, 5 grey, 1 white and 1 red card, the grand total being 7.90L. I had also gotten to the top of the distortion, met with a large platform made of ice, with stairs that lead upwards to the concrete ground of the alleyway. "Finally! It took a lot longer than expected. Good thing there wasn't any trouble." **"Talk about jinxing yourself."** As Arsene said that, we were met with something familiar, something haunting. Just as we stepped on the platform, I heard the sound of rusty squeaks and the clanging of metal. Above us, was a Large shadow with skeletal ribs, a tail like spine and arms the length of my body twice over. It looked at me with its triangle eyes and jagged mouth that were fueled by a dark red flame. **"Heeeeeeeee…."** It's voice sounded like the hissing of a gas pipe leaking. It lazily slipped down from the ceiling to the platform, becoming a black pile before it unraveled into predator like stance. It twitched in the centre of space before it let out a loud screech that blew out the torches that illuminated the dark room, the only light that remained was the light that came from its face and lanterns. **"..."** "..." **"..." "Huh."** "I don't know how to feel about this…" **"Is it possible for paper to wet itself?"**

 **[Now playing: Master of shadows.]**

More wolves began to materialize, I would not have noticed if it weren't for the growls and my 3rd eye. Three lunged at me, as I propelled myself over them and the claw that tore them apart. I made sure to bounce off the Grimm Jack-o-lantern's head after I dodged the attack to get some distance. The problem however was that I was now in between a giant nightmare pumpkin and the rejects from little red riding hood. At least they would have been there if the Jack-o-lantern hadn't taken them all out while using the maragi spell to hurt me. The only survivor was the four armed alpha, which was also short lived as I felt the ground below me heat up as the alpha charged at me. Because I dodged, the alpha was the one to take the pain from the explosion known as agilo. Bursting into smoke, a skill card getting stuck in the eye hole of my mask and leaving me alone with the nightmare.

It guarded the exit so I couldn't escape, so I assessed my situation while I took the card with a flame symbol in the centre. It's fast and it has ranged attacks, my best option is to hit it from afar. If I am being honest though, I didn't want to fight this thing head on. "Arsene, Eiha!" The dark energy stabbed the creature. But it didn't seem like anything happened. I used my third eye to confirm my suspicions.

 **[Crypt-dwelling Pyro-Terror]**

 **[Phys-Null/Gun-?/Wind-?/Elec-?/Fire-?/Ice-?/Psy-?/Nuke-?/Curs-Null/Bles-?]**

"Crap!" **"I think you mean, horse shit."** It then began bouncing off the ceiling and platform in quick secession. **"Master, It's moving in on you!"** "Well then. How about you meet it head on?" I summoned Shiki-Ouji just as the Jack-o-lantern launched towards me, blocking it, I pulled out the Dormina skill card and threw it at Shiki-Ouji's back. It turned to flames and merged with him, turning the red parts of him a vibrant purple. "Put it to sleep!" **"It shall be done!"** A large cloud of bubbles burst outwards towards the nightmare, putting it to sleep and giving me time to escape. Well, after I took the rewards of course.

[Akira Kurusu] lvl 50

[Melee attack] 250

[Ranged attack] 300

[Defence] 0-50

[Money] 0.50-11.70

[Skills] Lvl 1 Death: trainee armoury. Lvl 1 Hermit: a home. Lvl 1 Joker: turning tide.

[Arsene] Lvl 51

[Eiha, Cleave, Sakunda, Dream needle, Adverse resolve, Maeiha]

[Strength] 40

[Intelligence] 49-50

[Vitality] 33

[Agility] 60-62

[Luck] 27

[Shiki-Ouji] Lvl 24

[Tarukaja, Taunt, Snap, Dormina, Mapsi]

[Strength] 21-24

[Intelligence] 11

[Vitality] 15-21

[Agility] 16

[Luck] 13

Thank you for reading everyone, it took a lot longer to make than the last one and I hope you enjoyed it. With all the explanations that were needed and everything I had to think of to make some sort of sense was hard to do. Especially when I want the creature Nightmare Jack to be foreboding and creative. Also, sorry for any errors at the end, I was up late editing for this one. After this chapter is done, I'll start production on the fifth, I will give you a hint though, the phantom thieves will be shown across the world. Best wishes, spiffy.


	5. Have a good weekend!

Have a good weekend. PS. There is new stuff at the bottom of the forth chapter now. Also, new poll is ready.


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